Syntax and discourse in the acquisition of adjunct control

Includes bibliographical references (p. 211-219).Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Linguistics and Philosophy, 2006.(cont.) I suggest that the control principles are intact, and that a separate aspect of grammar is responsible for these non-adult interpretations. I argue that adjunct attachment height, which is crucial to determining what type of control will obtain in the adult grammar, must be learned from the input and exhibits gradual development. If the child has failed to embed an adjunct clause at a sufficiently low level (e.g., within the VP), the null subject will fall into the domain of discourse control rather than syntactic control. If these claims are correct, we expect children to show adult-like control in adjuncts, albeit contingent upon the adjunct type. Three experiments were conducted to test these predictions. We find correlations between non-adult control and non-adult pronoun interpretation, both argued to be due to the misattachment of the adjunct clause. Children's interpretations of PRO in misattached adjuncts are also similar to those in true discourse control contexts, as expected.This dissertation is a study of null subjects in adjunct clauses in English. The goal is twofold: to establish a comprehensive theory of control in adjuncts, and to utilize this theory to understand the adjunct control interpretations of children aged 3-6. The theoretical basis of this work is Landau (2000, 2001), who characterizes the complement control mechanism as a syntactic Agree relation (Chomsky 1995, et seq.). I argue that the same mechanism governs control into low-attaching adjuncts (like before, after, while and without) as well. High-attaching adjuncts and gerund subjects, on the other hand, are subject to discourse-governed control rather than the syntactic Agree relation. I argue that the topic of the sentence is the controller in these cases. This theory makes certain predictions for acquisition. We expect control in verb complements and low-attaching adjuncts to develop at the same age, given that they are governed by the same mechanism. Discourse-governed control, on the other hand, is predicted to develop much later in childhood. However, many researchers have observed that control in some low-attaching adjuncts may be delayed until age 5, beyond the age at which children master complement control.by Allison Nicole Adler.Ph.D

Design and baseline characteristics of the finerenone in reducing cardiovascular mortality and morbidity in diabetic kidney disease trial

Background: Among people with diabetes, those with kidney disease have exceptionally high rates of cardiovascular (CV) morbidity and mortality and progression of their underlying kidney disease. Finerenone is a novel, nonsteroidal, selective mineralocorticoid receptor antagonist that has shown to reduce albuminuria in type 2 diabetes (T2D) patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) while revealing only a low risk of hyperkalemia. However, the effect of finerenone on CV and renal outcomes has not yet been investigated in long-term trials. Patients and Methods: The Finerenone in Reducing CV Mortality and Morbidity in Diabetic Kidney Disease (FIGARO-DKD) trial aims to assess the efficacy and safety of finerenone compared to placebo at reducing clinically important CV and renal outcomes in T2D patients with CKD. FIGARO-DKD is a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel-group, event-driven trial running in 47 countries with an expected duration of approximately 6 years. FIGARO-DKD randomized 7,437 patients with an estimated glomerular filtration rate >= 25 mL/min/1.73 m(2) and albuminuria (urinary albumin-to-creatinine ratio >= 30 to <= 5,000 mg/g). The study has at least 90% power to detect a 20% reduction in the risk of the primary outcome (overall two-sided significance level alpha = 0.05), the composite of time to first occurrence of CV death, nonfatal myocardial infarction, nonfatal stroke, or hospitalization for heart failure. Conclusions: FIGARO-DKD will determine whether an optimally treated cohort of T2D patients with CKD at high risk of CV and renal events will experience cardiorenal benefits with the addition of finerenone to their treatment regimen. Trial Registration: EudraCT number: 2015-000950-39; ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT02545049

Robust estimation of bacterial cell count from optical density

Optical density (OD) is widely used to estimate the density of cells in liquid culture, but cannot be compared between instruments without a standardized calibration protocol and is challenging to relate to actual cell count. We address this with an interlaboratory study comparing three simple, low-cost, and highly accessible OD calibration protocols across 244 laboratories, applied to eight strains of constitutive GFP-expressing E. coli. Based on our results, we recommend calibrating OD to estimated cell count using serial dilution of silica microspheres, which produces highly precise calibration (95.5% of residuals &lt;1.2-fold), is easily assessed for quality control, also assesses instrument effective linear range, and can be combined with fluorescence calibration to obtain units of Molecules of Equivalent Fluorescein (MEFL) per cell, allowing direct comparison and data fusion with flow cytometry measurements: in our study, fluorescence per cell measurements showed only a 1.07-fold mean difference between plate reader and flow cytometry data

The James Webb Space Telescope Mission

Twenty-six years ago a small committee report, building on earlier studies, expounded a compelling and poetic vision for the future of astronomy, calling for an infrared-optimized space telescope with an aperture of at least $4m$. With the support of their governments in the US, Europe, and Canada, 20,000 people realized that vision as the $6.5m$ James Webb Space Telescope. A generation of astronomers will celebrate their accomplishments for the life of the mission, potentially as long as 20 years, and beyond. This report and the scientific discoveries that follow are extended thank-you notes to the 20,000 team members. The telescope is working perfectly, with much better image quality than expected. In this and accompanying papers, we give a brief history, describe the observatory, outline its objectives and current observing program, and discuss the inventions and people who made it possible. We cite detailed reports on the design and the measured performance on orbit.Comment: Accepted by PASP for the special issue on The James Webb Space Telescope Overview, 29 pages, 4 figure

Protocol for an evaluation of the initiation of an integrated longitudinal outpatient care model for severe chronic non-communicable diseases (PEN-Plus) at secondary care facilities (district hospitals) in 10 lower-income countries

Introduction The Package of Essential Noncommunicable Disease Interventions—Plus (PEN-Plus) is a strategy decentralising care for severe non-communicable diseases (NCDs) including type 1 diabetes, rheumatic heart disease and sickle cell disease, to increase access to care. In the PEN-Plus model, mid-level clinicians in intermediary facilities in low and lower middle income countries are trained to provide integrated care for conditions where services traditionally were only available at tertiary referral facilities. For the upcoming phase of activities, 18 first-level hospitals in 9 countries and 1 state in India were selected for PEN-Plus expansion and will treat a variety of severe NCDs. Over 3 years, the countries and state are expected to: (1) establish PEN-Plus clinics in one or two district hospitals, (2) support these clinics to mature into training sites in preparation for national or state-level scale-up, and (3) work with the national or state-level stakeholders to describe, measure and advocate for PEN-Plus to support development of a national operational plan for scale-up.Methods and analysis Guided by Proctor outcomes for implementation research, we are conducting a mixed-method evaluation consisting of 10 components to understand outcomes in clinical implementation, training and policy development. Data will be collected through a mix of quantitative surveys, routine reporting, routine clinical data and qualitative interviews.Ethics and dissemination This protocol has been considered exempt or covered by central and local institutional review boards. Findings will be disseminated throughout the project’s course, including through quarterly M&amp;E discussions, semiannual formative assessments, dashboard mapping of progress, quarterly newsletters, regular feedback loops with national stakeholders and publication in peer-reviewed journals

COS Ambassadors

A collection of materials and resources for COS ambassadors